Kimber Lee

Mia Yim makes her first defence of the SHINE Championship which she won last month during WWNLive’s tour of China at tonight’s SHINE 23 show in Ybor City, FL. She defends the belt against number one contender Nevaeh, who has an edge over the new titleholder after getting a pinball win over Yim at SHINE 22 in October in a six woman tag team match. However, with Mia still rolling from her title win three weeks ago, will that be enough to turn back the challenge of the Gem City Queen?

Elsewhere, Kimber Lee and Cherry Bomb attempt to wrest the Tag Team Championship from Malia Hosaka and Brandi Wine, though the numbers are against them as the reigning titleholders have Leilani Kai and new recruit Thunderkitty by their side to offer a helping hand – though TK is also wrestling tonight against Leah Von Dutch.

Elsewhere, Vanessa Kraven is making her debut, Amber O’Neal and Crazy Mary Dobson return to action and as well as representing Nevaeh, Valifornia boss SoCal Val will lead BTY‘s Jayme Jameson and Marti Belle into battle against Heidi Lovelace and Solo Darling.

There’s still time to order the show by clicking here, but we’ll be bringing you results as they happen, so keep refreshing the page. We’ll also have thoughts on the show coming tomorrow.

– Before the event began, we got to see Yim’s victory over Velez in Beijing.
– The show began with an in-ring Mia Yim interview saying that she plans to hold onto the SHINE Championship for as long as she can, and that she is looking forward to she and Nevaeh going one on one tonight. Ivelisse Velez came out to congratulate the new champion but said Yim didn’t deserve the title shot in the first place and she would be coming for a rematch.
1. Ivelisse Velez made Amanda Rodriguez tap out to the Lasso from El Paso.
2. Amber O’Neal v Luscious Latasha went to a no-contest when Santana Garrett came into the ring to confront Amber over her heel turn. Santana said that she is ready to wrestle her former tag partner tonight, and O’Neal renamed herself as Amber Gallows, and said Garrett is now on the Bullet Club’s hit list.
3. Allysin Kay pinned Crazy Mary Dobson with a discus lariat.
4. BTY (Marti Belle & Jayme Jameson) defeated The Buddy System (Heidi Lovelace & Solo Darling). Jameson pinned Lovelace with her feet on the ropes. BTY went after Heidi’s knee after the bell and dumped Daffney off the apron.
5. Vanessa Kraven beat Leva Bates with a choke bomb.
6. Thunderkitty pinned Leah Von Dutch after reversing a sunset flip and holding onto Leilani Kai for leverage.
7. Taylor Made defeated La Rosa Negra after knocking her out with some brass knuckles. Taylor attacked Negra after the bell but Ivelisse Velez made the save.
8. SHINE Tag Team Championship – Legendary (Malia Hosaka & Brandi Wine) (c) defeated the Kimber Bombs (Kimber Lee & Cherry Bomb) to retain the titles. Wine pinned Kimber after Thunderkitty and Hosaka rammed her into the ring post. Legendary went for a beatdown after the match until Leah Von Dutch made the save.
9. Santana Garrett beat Amber Gallows with a jackknife pin. Frustrated, Gallows beat up a member of the ring crew after the match.
10 SHINE Championship – Nevaeh defeated Mia Yim (c) via DQ after Ivelisse kicked Nevaeh in the head. Nevaeh, Yim and Velez fought after the bell, with Ivelisse knocking out two referees and kicking boss lady Lexie Fyfe.

Thoughts

• Wrestling-wise, SHINE 23 was a heck of a show with some great performances from some and saw some really pleasant surprises from others. With four matches fully deserving of two thumbs up, that’s the good bit. However, there were two negatives which were repeatedly seen throughout the broadcast and both of them come down to overbooking.

• Let’s talk about those four matches which were big successes. First off is Allysin Kay v Crazy Mary Dobson, which had a great story to start with Kay showing sportsmanship by shaking hands, holding open ropes and being a good egg about everything. However, the veil slipped when Dobson started to get the better of her in the feeling-out process and Allysin gave her opponent a cheeky kick as she climbed back into the ring to give her the edge. With some great near falls and some dramatic work from both, this was another example of Kay’s resurgence and Dobson’s ability to entertain without needing to work hardcore.

• Vanessa Kraven made a great impression in her SHINE debut in what was probably Leva Bates’ best match in the promotion in 2014. Working the big v small dynamic very well, the pair showcased their most positive attributes. Nice work by both.

• La Rosa Negra’s continued run of entertaining and exciting matches continued against a Taylor Made who has come on leaps and bounds this year. Negra has a great ability to turn it up into a high gear at a moment’s notice and Taylor’s evolution as a heel is great to see. Both should be very happy with how 2014 has gone for them.

• Finally, there was the main event with Mia Yim tempering her athleticism to showcase it at the right moment as well as working the crowd – plus, her promo ability is getting much better, which is great to see. As for Nevaeh, she is so crisp and precise with her work and she has no wasted motion. She’s a great heel and it’s fantastic to see her being given a chance to work at the very top of the card.

• Elsewhere, Ivelisse’s growing obsession with winning the SHINE Title again saw her make quick work of Amanda Rodriguez, but the latter didn’t have the shortest night’s work as that went to Luscious Latasha, whose match with Amber O’Neal was used as a foil to rebrand the Bullet Babe and set up a match against her former tag team partner Santana Garrett – whose surprise return to SHINE throws up questions about her status with TNA. The match between herself and the renamed Amber Gallows also made you wonder why Santana was heeled up in her Brittany guise too…

• BTY and the Buddy System’s match showcased each member of the match well, while Leah Von Dutch’s face turn has seen her continue the Dino Hunter gimmick but go after the heels in Legendary, though she fell to Thunderkitty in a night dominated by heel victories, also demonstrated by Malia Hosaka and Brandi Wine’s win over the Kimber Bombs.

• So here’s the thing: the main event angle involving Nevaeh being pissed off at Ivelisse’s interference costing her a title victory and Mia Yim also being annoyed at not getting a decisive win over Nevaeh which ended with a 3-way brawl and Velez attacking Lexie Fyfe was a hot angle, but it was muddied by the sheer number of unclean finishes and post-match shenanigans.

• O’Neal and Latasha’s match went to a no contest because of Santana coming into the ring to break up proceedings, BTY/Buddy System had a screwy ending and an angle after the bell. There was another illegal leverage pin in the Thunderkitty/LVD contest, Taylor Made used brass knuckles to beat La Rosa Negra and there was a beatdown with saw Ivelisse come to the rescue in a moment which felt superfluous, and then there was another run-in save in the Tag Team Title match which ended with interference. The penultimate match had Amber beat up the ring crew member to retain some heat in a moment which wouldn’t have been needed had she just won the match, and then came the main event DQ and brawl. Of the ten matches, six had finishes with illegal activity while six of them also had stuff happening after the match was over. Too much stuff meant that they all became muddied by the end.

• Also, Su Yung on the poster but not at the show. A rare faux pas in the advertising there.

• It may feel like I’m having a downer on the show but I’m not. I just feel that the main event ending would have had more gravitas had it been the one of only a couple of pieces of extra-curricular stuff on the show, rather than being the fifth match in a row to have excess booking. Still, there’s a potential 3-way title match coming for SHINE 24 next month and Valifornia & Legendary are still strong, while Valkyrie is still hanging in there.

We have come full circle with Female Fight Season. Women Superstars Uncensored kicked off proceedings on September 13 with the Resurgence iPPV and it also bookends the proceedings with Breaking Barriers, taking place in Voorhees, NJ today.

Headlining the card is WSU Champion LuFisto defending the title against Jenny Rose, who is enjoying a five match winning streak, while Kimber Lee and Annie Social both have to win their singles matches against JT Dunn and David Starr respectively to try and earn another crack at the Tag Team Championship. Elsewhere, Niya Barela puts the Spirit Title on the line against the debuting Tessa Blanchard, while fellow debutante D’Arcy Dixon faces rival Mickie Knuckles.

You can read a full write-up of the card by clicking here, and if you can’t watch the event on iPPV we will be providing results below. Just keep hitting refresh to get the latest goings-on as they happen.

1. Nevaeh bested Jewells Malone with a Death Valley Driver.
– Sassy Stephie entered to address the crowd flanked by Mademoiselle Rachelle and a mystery woman, later identified as Amanda Rodriguez. Stephie stated her feud with Jessicka Havok was not over, that she has a new job within the backstage of WSU (explaining her corporate dress attire) and then turned her attention to LuFisto, indicating that she was not impressed with her behaviour.
2. Leva Bates defeated Brittany Blake with a Pepsi Plunge
3. Annie Social pinned David Starr with a roll-up
4. Cherry Bomb was victorious over Solo Darling with the Best Superkick Ever
5. WSU Spirit Championship:Niya Barela (c) retained her championship against Tessa Blanchard with a DDT. After the match, she attacked Tessa Blanchard and Nevaeh ran out to make the save.
6. Hania defeated Athena with a frog splash
7. Mickie Knuckles beat D’Arcy Dixon with a pump-handle slam
8. Kimber Lee defeated JT Dunn with a ganso bomb
9. WSU Championship:LuFisto (c) retained her championship against Jenny Rose with a power bomb
– After the match, Sassy Stephie made her way to the ring and got in LuFisto’s face, Mademoiselle Rachelle and Amanda Rodriguez used the distraction as an opportunity to kick LuFisto from behind and the trio beat the WSU Champion down. LuFisto fought back, getting in Sassy Stephie’s face and then made the mistake of turning her back on her, toward the crowd. Stephie attacked her again, leaving LuFisto lying in the ring as the event came to a close.

Thoughts:

• I found the opening match with Navaeh and Jewells Malone to be a bit short and would have liked it to be a bit longer, give them an opportunity to build a story and give the crowd a chance to invest.

• Sassy Stephie rocked the corporate attire as she announced she was now working behind the scenes of WSU, but made sure to be clear that her feud with Jessicka Havok was not over and she has her attention on LuFisto. The segment was good, and I particularly enjoyed the crowd taunts with the ‘Rosebud’ theme.

• Annie Social is looking to be in fine form, as the feud between herself and Kimber Lee and The Juicy Product continues. I am a pretty big fan of inter-gender wrestling, especially amongst individuals who make it look good, aren’t afraid to take risks and show no fear. There’s nothing worse then having an inter-gender match where the opponents are afraid to hit each other. Pleasingly, the interactions between Social/Lee and The Juicy Product have represented every thing that I feel should be present in these type of matches, making them entertaining and invoking the emotions necessary to get a crowd invested. The only thing that I disliked actually had nothing to do with these matches at all, but rather the commentary. In parts, seemed to be full of in-jokes/comments and slights toward the competitors which really could have done without.

• Tessa Blanchard made a good debut, whilst she did look unsure in parts by the time the match was properly underway she looked in her element. Niya retained her championship though, and attacked Tessa after she was declared the winner. Nevaeh sprinted out to make the save, and declared that she would get her shot at Niya’s WSU Spirit Championship in February.

• Before intermission hit, Hania vs Athena was the Match of the Day, Hania attacking Athena before the bell rang and it was an all-out brawl. It was captivating in parts, and just when you thought Athena had the match won, Hania hit the frog splash and got the pin.

• After intermission, the action kicked back in with D’Arcy Dixon and Mickie Knuckles, which was an explosive from the time the bell rang. D’arcy’s debut was really impressive and I am looking forward in seeing how she progresses in the future.

• Kimber Lee and JT Dunn put on another solid match, and again I really enjoyed it. I think creating this dynamic of having these type of matches on the WSU shows, is setting them a part from other women’s promotions right now and for me, it makes me want to buy more of the events as I want to see what happens next.

• The main event saw LuFisto defend her championship against Jenny Rose. The match at different points had the fans swinging from each women as to who to cheer for. I think this is a sign of a solid match and makes it great to watch as it culminates into a complete story. There was something missing for me though, so I will be watching this match again to see if I can see what I missed. After the match, Sassy Stephie seized the opportunity to attack LuFisto with her assistants, Mademoiselle Rachelle and Amanda Rodriguez. The event closed with Lufisto lying in the ring, and me hoping that she gets some revenge at the next WSU event on February 21, 2015.

Heidi Lovelace is on the verge of making history. She is just one win away from becoming the first female Young Lions Cup winner after advancing to the finals following last night’s Wrestling Is Fun show in Norristown, PA.

Attendee Dave Muscarella reports that the Punk Rock Ragdoll advanced to a 6-way semi-final by pinning Eddie Smooth when her opponent missed a Shooting Star Press. Elsewhere, Kimber Lee made her way to the 6-way by defeating JT Dunn in the opening contest. Dunn countered Lee’s Ganso Bomb attempt, but the counter was countered into a roll-up pinfall. As it turned out, it was the only two women in the tournament who ended up fighting it out to make it to the final.

After Arctic Assault Ant, Will Ferrera, the Proletariat Boar of Moldova and Joe Black were seen off – with Heidi seeing off the Boar and Kimber dispatching Ferrera – the pair went at it, with Lovelace getting the win by making her opponent tap out to the CHIKARA Special.

Lovelace’s accomplishment is the latest in a line of big moments in CHIKARA and its affiliates. She made a positive impression at National Pro Wrestling Day last year, and got a win over then-CHIKARA Grand Champion Eddie Kingston at Wrestling Is Heart just over a year ago. She was also part of this year’s NPWD in February where her match with Joe Pittman was seemingly the catalyst for the return of CHIKARA. Their match was a no-contest, but Lovelace won the rematch at Wrestling Is Fun later that month.

Heidi’s victory means that she will face Missile Assault Ant, who made it to the final the previous evening when he emerged victorious in another 6-way featuring Donovan Dijak, Prakash Sabar, Race Jaxon, Rex Lawless and Shynron. You can watch the final live on iPPV as part of CHIKARA’s Tomorrow Never Dies show from the the former ECW Arena on December 6. You can order the show by clicking here.

Women Superstars Uncensored has announced a stacked card for its Breaking Barriers show on the afternoon of November 8 with two debuts and a surprise being promised for the iPPV.

As we announced in Tuesday’s Roundup, Hania and Athena will face off again after their contest at Resurgence in September which was won by the Fallen Goddess. The future of the Tag Team Championship scene will also be cleared up as Chicks Using Nasty Tactics and titleholders the Juicy Product will face off in separate singles matches – Kimber Lee takes on JT Dunn while Annie Social battles David Starr in one-on-one affairs with the stipulation being that the women have to win both matches to get another shot at the belts in the future.

Two titles will be on the line at the event at the Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ. LuFisto will defend the WSU Championship against Jenny Rose with the challenger enjoying a five match winning streak dating back to February. After beating Hania twice, Barracuda Britney, Mima Shimoda and Marti Belle, she is in one for the biggest title opportunity of her career. LuFisto has made no secret about her injuries – she’s dealing with a broken hand and also had been unwittingly working for several months with a separated shoulder, so she may be ripe for the picking after a heavy year. Incidentally, the Wounded Owl Ronin also had to deal with owner DJ Hyde and his hand-picked favourite Sassy Stephie, and Stephie will explain her association with the boss as well as their attack on the titleholder at the end of Resurgence.

Elsewhere, Niya Barela puts the Spirit Championship up against debutante Tessa Blanchard, who has impressed a great many people over the past year. However, WSU is questioning why Barela is ducking the challenge of Nevaeh, who has recently been chasing the champion. The Gem City Queen will be in the building as she’s wrestling a returning Jewells Malone, so Nevaeh may also be a factor in this Spirit title match.

Cosplayers collide with Leva Bates – who makes her first WSU appearance in more than two years – and Brittany Blake locking up, Cherry Bomb faces Solo Darling – who made a strong first impression in the promotion back in September – and D’Arcy Dixon will make her WSU debut against longtime rival Mickie Knuckles, just one day after the pair face each other in a cage match for Knuckles’ RESISTANCE Pro Women’s Championship.

Finally, WSU is hinting at a major return at the event but haven’t revealed any hints about who it is or in what capacity. We’ll find out on November 8. The iPPV isn’t available for pre-order yet, but keep checking here to find out when it’s available.

Kacee Carlisle‘s underhanded tactics which served her so well in Valkyrie Women’s Wrestling‘s first two shows earlier this year – where she knocked out Jessie Belle with some brass knuckles and then got sneaky to get LuFisto disqualified – paid off for a third time as she defeated Sumie Sakai on last night’s show to end her opponent’s undefeated streak in the promotion and claim the Valkyrie Women’s Wrestling Championship in the process. A chair shot to Sumie’s back followed by a DDT was enough to claim the title on last night’s card in Brooklyn, NY which pulled in its most impressive crowd yet and also saw a blistering match to crown a new number one contender.

Kimber Lee, La Rosa Negra and Hania tore the house down in their 3-way earlier in the event, with a Ganso Bomb seeing Kimber earn the first shot at Carlisle, presumably on the next show. You can see all the results below, courtesy of the ever-present Dave Muscarella, who was in attendance.

After a monumental title change at the conclusion of yesterday’s DVD tapings, SHIMMER returns for another two shows with Nicole Matthews looking to kick off her title reign in style against challenger Evie – though she has history working against her. The New Zealander got the win in their first encounter in the promotion earlier this year on volume 66 and is also on a four-match winning streak, so she could be seen as the favourite going into this title match.

Elsewhere, Tag Team Champions Tomoka Nakagawa and Kellie Skater face a tough challenge from Saraya Knight and Mayumi Ozaki who formed an alliance after yesterday’s tapings which also saw Rhia O’Reilly brought into the fold. Grudges will come to the fore with Jessicka Havok looking to dismantle Portia Perez, while the fallout from volume 68’s main event also sees Cheerleader Melissa and Athena square off.

• I’m on the road back home to Minnesota and have had some time to collect my thoughts about all that happened over this past weekend. In the grand scheme of things, this was a bit of a strange weekend with how pretty much all the major matches and developments happened very early in the weekend. There was certainly good stuff worth checking out on the final two days but you definitely got the feeling that the climax had already happened.

• Pretty much the entire weekend revolved around the war between the Canadian Ninjas and Madison Eagles & Jessicka Havok. J Hav was already targeting Portia Perez for hitting her in the head with a wrench in the Spring but the interesting development was the escalation in the Nicole Matthews and Madison Eagles feud. Before this weekend, their rivalry was treated very lighthearted with a lot of playful banter and poking fun at each other over things like taste in coffee. But that seems like a distant memory now that they’re throwing fireballs at each other. One of the better moments of the weekend was Madison’s first appearance after the fire incident where she appeared genuinely upset about how Nicole had suddenly changed from a goofball to diabolical and wondered if this was Nicole’s plan all along when they became friends. For someone as skilled and dominant as Eagles, this was a nice bit of vulnerability shown from her that I think really helped make her even more sympathetic to the fans than just getting burned would have.

• Meanwhile, Jessicka Havok finally was able to get her hands on Portia Perez but her bloodlust proved to be her undoing as she wouldn’t stop pummeling her despite referee Bryce Remsburg’s pleading. And after Havok forcefully shoved Bryce out of the ring, he had no choice but to disqualify her and award the win to Portia. Afterwards, Nicole appeared shouting “We won!” and the two celebrated like they won the tag titles. And in the main event, despite Madison Eagles showing up to assault Nicole before her title defense against Evie, Matthews was able to leave with the championship after a spirited battle with the Kiwi.

• The plot for the next volume got started with the Global Green Gangsters doing an interview in the ring to discuss the Kimber Bombs requesting a shot at the tag team championships and that looked like it was heading for Tomoka Nakagawa discussing her upcoming retirement. However, Nicole and Portia gatecrashed, incredulous why so much attention was being given to Nakagawa. Nicole said that no matter how long Tomoka held a tag team title, she would never hold Nicole’s title and that prompted Tomoka to attack the Ninjas and send them scurrying. This led to the main event of Nicole defending the SHIMMER Championship against Tomoka. But as we would find out, the actual main event was far bigger.

• The initial title match was thrown out rather quickly as Portia Perez interfered after about three minutes. This caused an irate Kellie Skater to come to the ring who wanted to fight because her friend got screwed out of a title shot, even offering to put up the tag titles as incentive to get the Ninjas to agree to a match. This brought out the Kimber Bombs who presumably were upset their challenge got passed over and they ended up attacking 3G and getting *that* title match thrown out. So then finally Jessicka Havok and Madison Eagles rushed the ring (the latter with four Stone Cold Stunners for the Ninjas and Kimber Bombs) and demanded to team with 3G for a No Disqualification 8 woman tag match. And after disposing of the Kimber Bombs and sending Nicole fleeing from receiving a retaliatory fireball, Portia was left all by her lonesome to take everyone’s finishing moves and get pinned to end the weekend.

• I apologize for writing so much about that one feud but that was really the only thing of consequence that happened over the weekend. There were a couple miniature spats that got reasonably resolved before the conclusion of Volume 70 but nothing that really seems like it will continue further. Athena and Cheerleader Melissa had a match based on Athena pinning Melissa in the title match on 68 and later in that match, Melissa’s distraction caused Athena’s elimination. But Athena got legitimately knocked out early in the match by a Curb Stomp and the match was ended shortly after. Once it was decided she was okay, a rematch with the stipulation of knockout or submission falls only got signed that Athena won. Elsewhere, Saraya Knight and LuFisto briefly continued their feud from the Spring but by Sunday, both parties were busy with other things. Mia Yim and AKINO had a singles match based off their interactions in the big trios match on Volume 67. And on the undercard, Xandra Bale and Miss Natural traded victories. So despite regular acts being there and as entertaining as ever, it really felt like much of the shows were in a holding pattern.

• Four of the people who made big strides, though, were people just starting or still fairly young in their SHIMMER careers. Scotland’s Kay Lee Ray returned to Berwyn and really broke out this weekend with four singles matches that ranged from great to outstanding. She was put in the ring with a bunch of established talent and really impressed against all of them. Her matches with Evie, Kana and Candice LeRae were all wonderful and while her match with Kimber Lee didn’t quite measure up to the other three, it was still a very solid, very hard-hitting outing.

• And although I touched on them in my Saturday recaps, AKINO and Nicole Savoy were both very welcome additions to the roster. AKINO capped off her weekend with the aforementioned match with Mia Yim and then faced LuFisto, someone AKINO had a hand in training. They were well on their way to a spectacular match that just when it was getting really exciting, ended prematurely for my taste after an AKINO Saito Suplex. Nicole Savoy also got to try her hand against the Wounded Owl Ronin on the previous volume and had another incredible match. This was more like a match out of All Japan Pro Wrestling in the 1990’s with all the brutal strikes and dropping each other on their head and neck. Who knows what the future holds in regards to AKINO returning but Nicole Savoy is absolutely one to pay attention to. Even though she only had two matches and lost them both, she really held her own with two double-tough opponents in Heidi Lovelace and LuFisto and she certainly has the potential to be a major player in SHIMMER over the next couple years.

• Finally, this weekend saw the Berwyn debut of Canadian veteran Vanessa Kraven who immediately made an impact. I already touched on her match with Jessicka Havok, a match that I believe is the closest SHIMMER will ever come to a climactic fight from a Gojira film, but her other match of the weekend was a dismantling of Crazy Mary Dobson. Kraven is also someone to watch in the future because she has a complete set of skills that she can bring to matches. She has a wide array of power moves, she has the speed and agility to fly if necessary and her strikes rival the hardest ones of Mercedes Martinez. With SHIMMER feeling like it’s in a transitional phase, someone like Vanessa Kraven could really make an impact sooner than later.

• That will wrap up my sort of general thoughts for the weekend. However, I will be back on my home site of NHB Girls later in this week to provide a more thorough breakdown of the weekend for the Australasians who competed. Otherwise, that will do it for me for the SHIMMER tapings of October 2014. I have a need to thank Lee Burton for giving me the chance to share my thoughts with you readers. Even though it still breaks my heart that it’s not Stew’s column you’re reading, I hope I did him and his legacy justice this weekend because everything done this weekend by everyone in the Berwyn Eagles Club was done with his memory in mind and wanting to make him proud. Until next year, this is Reid Allen signing out.

SHIMMER‘s contribution to this Female Fight Season kicks off today with a double DVD taping featuring 38 wrestlers and sees its first show headlined with a titanic encounter, with Cheerleader Melissa putting the SHIMMER Championship on the line against Kana with each wrestler claiming a win over the other in the promotion. Elsewhere, four joshis will make their SHIMMER debuts as AKINO, Tsukasa Fujimoto, Kaori Yoneyama and Mayumi Ozaki all look to make a big first impression, and it seems like Ozaki is gunning for Saraya Knight.

Portia Perez is seemingly looking to make peace with Jessicka Havok after accidentally hitting her in the head with a wretch on the last taping and the Coffee Cold War between Madison Eagles and Perez’s partner in crime Nicole Matthews is also expected to carry on.

We’ll update this post with all the results as they come in courtesy of Reid Allen, and he has also agreed to let us know about the big matches and moments from the first day of this bumper weekend of wrestling. Sit back, keep hitting refresh, and we’ll watch it all unfold.

SHIMMER volume 67

Before the tapings began, Allison Danger took to the ring to eulogise our dearly departed friend Stew Allen. There was a five bell salute in his memory.

1. Kimber Lee & Cherry Bomb defeated Bambi Hall & KC Cassidy. Lee pinned Hall follow a lungblower/German suplex combination.
2. Heidi Lovelace pinned Nicole Savoy with a frog splash.
3. Sassy Stephie beat Crazy Mary Dobson with the Kiss My Sass.
4. Athena made Nikki Storm tap out to a modified Bow and Arrow. As a result she will be part of a triple threat SHIMMER Title match on the next volume.
5. Portia Perez beat Courtney Rush via DQ when Jessicka Havok came out to attack Perez. Rush was not happy with Havok’s interference causing her to lose.
6. Nevaeh pinned Jenny Rose with a Death Valley Driver.
7. No DQ – Mayumi Ozaki pinned Saraya Knight with a spinning backfist. The pair shook hands afterwards and then went to the bar.
8. Evie pinned Kay Lee Ray with the TTYL.
9. LuFisto beat Rhia O’Reilly with the Burning Hammer.
– Knight came out afterwards to attack LuFisto – Ozaki also came out and it turns out that Ozaki, Knight and O’Reilly are a unit.
10. Nicole Matthews v Madison Eagles went to a draw. Matthews pinned Eagles while in a sleeper hold but tapped out at the same time.
– The winner was meant to move on to the triple threat title match on volume 68, so referee Bryce Remsburg says both will advance and the main event will now be a 4-way.
11. Kaori Yoneyama, AKINO & Tsukasa Fujimoto defeated Kellie Skater, Tomoka Nakagawa & Mia Yim. Yoneyama pinned Skater with a senton.
– Afterwards, Yoneyama and Fujimoto challenged Skater & Nakagawa for the Tag Team Championship. 3G accepted.
12. SHIMMER Championship – Cheerleader Melissa (c) beat Kana after 10 curb stomps and 2 Air Raid Crashes to retain the title.

• Hello, good readers of Ringbelles! I am Reid Allen from NHB Girls and I have been asked by Lee to provide the live recaps of this SHIMMER weekend. And to start, I’d like to borrow a quote from the great John Oliver and say, “Let’s all just acknowledge for a moment that this is weird. It looks weird, it feels weird, it even sounds weird.” I wish more than anything that it was Stew’s words you were reading right now instead of mine. So I hope I do him, Lee and all you readers justice with this recap…

• First of all, I want to go on record and say that for my money, SHIMMER Volume 67 may be the single greatest card ever put on by the promotion. Before yesterday, I’d have said that Volume 65 held that distinction in a landslide but 67 certainly made a very strong case for being in the conversation. Seven of the twelve matches were in the range of “great” to “outstanding.” And while 65 had a greater number of matches in that range, I feel that the best stuff delivered by 67 eclipsed the best matches on 65. So it’s a tough judgment to make about which was truly “better.” I’d advise that you buy the DVDs as soon as they’re released and judge them for yourself because both are well worth your money.

• Now, moving on to the big news of the day and that is the crowning of Nicole Matthews as the new SHIMMER Champion, who bested Madison Eagles, Athena and former champion Cheerleader Melissa in an elimination match to earn the gold. While the tactics she ended up using to ultimately claim the championship are certainly controversial and will no doubt be hotly debated for the duration of her reign, nobody can deny that Nicole is certainly worthy of representing the company as champion. She has grown into one of the finest wrestlers in the world today and her reign will no doubt be filled with some classic defenses to add to her resumé.

• Anybody who doubts her skills should be sat down and forced to watch her match against Madison Eagles from Volume 67. Those two went out and put on one of the best displays of technical wrestling ever seen in the promotion. Both girls were absolutely surgical with their offense as they dissected key limbs of their opponent with Eagles focusing on the arm and Nicole tearing apart Madison’s bad knee. It was very reminiscent of Bret Hart‘s masterpieces from the 90’s and it even threw out direct shout out to a couple by replicating the finish of his match against Roddy Piper at WrestleMania VIII and Steve Austin at Survivor Series 1996. But this had the added element of after Nicole using the turnbuckle to flip back over Madison and pin her to the canvas, she submitted to Madison’s submission hold during the count and so the match was declared a draw, letting both girls advance to the title match on the next volume.

• One thing that is for certain is that in addition to a furious Madison Eagles, Nicole will have no shortage of prospective challengers wanting a shot at her title. There were several very impressive debuts as well as some exciting new developments from ones familiar to the fans. The joshi contingent that came over for these shows were all impressive. And while Mayumi Ozaki seems to be more focused on raising hell after aligning herself with Saraya Knight and her prodigy Rhia O’Reilly, the remaining debuts all certainly made very strong impressions. The one who stood out most for me was AKINO who unleashed a flurry of some of the hardest kicks I’ve ever heard live. Tsukasa Fujimoto and Kaori Yoneyama both brought a ton of speed, energy and athleticism to their matches as well. I would be happy to see all four return in the future.

• Another extremely impressive debut was from Nicole Savoy. She may have had the most impressive debut match I’ve seen from somebody not coming in with any real fanfare. She and Heidi Lovelace had an absolute cracker of a match in just the second match of the tapings. This match was preformed at such a pace and with such intensity that it would not have looked out of place going five or six matches later on the card. They really set the standard for what the rest of the locker room would need to try and eclipse later. And while there did end up being an abundance of great matches, this one should not be overlooked in the grand scheme of things. Be sure to keep an eye on Nicole Savoy because even from just her one match, it was very apparent that she has the potential to become a serious force in the future.

• Elsewhere, a couple of favorites added a new wrinkle to their personalities that will keep things interesting for their future opponents. Nikki Storm seems like she’s dangerously close to snapping and really getting violent. While during her entrance and prematch speeches, she was her usual overconfident, vain and downright hilarious self, once the bell rang she frequently had wild outbursts of punches and choking before she’d take a few deep breaths and reign herself back in. Who knows what may happen if she ever decides to not worry about keeping her cool? And Courtney Rush did away with her usual jovial entrances by eliminating all the dancing, singing along with her theme and greeting the fans. Rush was clearly all business in her first two matches of the day against two of her chief rivals, Portia Perez and Veda Scott. Now that Rush has achieved revenge on Veda for her tactics in their Volume 66 match, we may see a return to a happy Courtney on the remaining volumes.

• Speaking of Perez, she is living very dangerously with her antagonizing of Jessicka Havok. The two got into a brawl during Portia’s match with Rush after Havok stormed the ring, seeking revenge for Portia accidentally hitting her with a wrench at the previous taping. Portia returned the favor later during Havok’s match with Vanessa Kraven. And real quick, I just want to tangent and rave about how great that match was. Two of the biggest women ever to compete for SHIMMER went face to face and had a very physical, very entertaining war. But Perez ended up being the difference maker as she came out to distract Havok, allowing Kraven to brutalize her on the outside and secure a countout win. When Portia and Havok inevitably collide, we may see Jessicka Havok provide some truly graphic violence against the Canadian.

• That will conclude my initial thoughts for now. I will be back tomorrow to wrap things up and provide news of any further happenings from an already memorable tapings. If you’d like to follow along with all the results as they happen, I will be on Twitter providing all the results and highlights live from the Eagles Club, or do a search for the hashtag #AAWSHIM to get not only my coverage but several others also in attendance. See you tomorrow.